The small town of Winton in western Queensland (Australia) is buzzing with excitement as a team of Australian palaeontologists have announced the discovery of about fifteen dinosaur bones that may represent a new species. Over the last twenty years or so, Winton has become the centre of Australia’s very own “dinosaur gold rush” with a number of exciting dinosaur discoveries being made as fossils weather out of the Cretaceous aged strata.

The Winton Formation (named after the town) has provided palaeontologists with a whole host of exciting dinosaur discoveries including Australia’s very own super-predator the vicious and agile Australovenator (Australovenator wintonensis) which is believed to be a type of Allosaur.

An Illustration of the “Aussie” Super-Predator (A. wintonensis)

Vicious Dinosaur from “Down Under”

Picture Credit: Everything Dinosaur

Already a “Hot Spot” for Cretaceous dinosaur discoveries, the latest fossil finds from the Winton area are fifteen dinosaur bones, including a beautifully preserved but very fragile femur (thigh bone) that has already been partially excavated by the scientists.

As Australia is in the southern hemisphere, it is winter time. The temperatures in and around the Winton area are much lower than they would be in high summer, so this is the time of year when a lot of field work takes place. A number of research groups are currently working in the area and a spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur said in a statement:

“The fossil discoveries that have been made in western Queensland are providing palaeontologists with a better understanding of the diversity of the Dinosauria on southern continents around 100 million years ago. It is very likely that new dinosaur species will be unearthed as the field teams continue their work. When you consider the size of the potential fossil field, then you could say that so far the palaeontologists have only just scratched the surface and there is probably a lot more exciting fossils awaiting discovery.”